Panera Is Going Au Natural, Pilgrim’s Pride Is Throwing Down the Poultry Gauntlet and You Auto Know

Food chain reaction…

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What could possibly be artificial about Panera? Well, there is that caramel color that’s used to achieve that fine hue in its roast beef. At least it’s not Subway’s yoga mat ingredient. Panera Bread becomes the latest food chain to battle GMO’s (genetically modified organisms). Unfortunately you’ll have to wait until 2016 for your Panera bread and all its accompaniments to be completely free of any dyes, sweeteners, prservatives, additives…”Panera is on a mission to help fix a broken food system,” said Scott Davis, who just happens to be Panera Chief Concept Officer. I wonder what he could do with our social security system? It seems that Panera doesn’t want to contribute to the behavioral problems of children that are apparently linked to artificial ingredients. No word yet on how much this is all going to cost but Panera’s hoping you wont mind the slight price increase too much.

Talking poultry?

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Hillshire Brands is definitely the popular kid today on Wall Street. Both Tyson and Pilgrim’s Pride are eager to scoop Hillshire, maker of the acclaimed Ball Park hot dogs. Pilgrim’s Pride offered $5 more per share than what Tyson offered. That’s corporate speak for bring it on! Both companies are looking to expand through prepared foods, of which Hillshire has aplenty. Just a few weeks ago Hillshire was set to buy Pinnacle Foods, maker of esteemed classics like Duncan Hines and the ever indominatable Mrs. Butterworths. If the Pinnacle deal falls through (and it is certainly looking that way), then Hillshire would theoretically be stuck with a $163 million termination fee. But lucky for Hillshire whoever buys it is probably going to be the one to eat that giant tab.

Vroom vroom goes the auto industry…

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Take a good look around you. Chances are you’ll see someone – maybe even someone you actually know – driving a brand new vehicle. May proved to be a very lucrative month for the auto-industry. In fact, the industry hit a nine year high. All those consumers who felt that our nasty winter made them not in the mood to get a new car are all coming out and putting an end to some of the anxiety about the industry itself. Almost every automaker saw sales increases, including GM. Yes, even GM with all its bad publicity and safety recall debacles saw a sales increase. It seems consumers still really do like GM products. Well, its SUVs and pick-up trucks anyways.